Even Fox News appears to be casting a jaundiced eye toward Kristi Noem’s explanation for the shooting of protester Alex Pretti. (Watch the video below.)
Peter Doocy, the conservative channel’s senior White House correspondent and rotating host of “The Sunday Briefing,” prodded the homeland security secretary on Sunday about the second questionable death of a protester in Minneapolis this month.
Pretti, an ICU nurse, was shot dead by Border Patrol officers on Saturday, intensifying outrage over the Trump administration’s deployment of ICE and Border Patrol officers in the area.
Homeland Security had claimed that Pretti intended to kill law enforcement and brandished a weapon before federal agents opened fire ― claims that are not corroborated by videos.
“So, you said last night, ‘It looks like a situation where an individual arrived on the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement,’” Doocy said. “Did he say, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ or did he leave a note? How do you know that was his intent?”
“Part of this investigation will be hearing from those agents and officers and people on the ground,” Noem replied. “But we do know that he came to that scene and impeded a law enforcement operation, which is against federal law. It’s a felony. When he did that, interacting with those agents when they tried to get him to disengage, he became aggressive and resisted them throughout that process. These officers used their training, followed their protocols and were in fear of their lives and the people around them.”
Doocy later redirected Noem back to one of the DHS’s initial central claims that Pretti, who is licensed to carry a gun, actually wielded his weapon.
“You mentioned the protocol — there is an angle of the video that we’ve been playing all morning where it shows an officer removing a weapon either from Alex Pretti’s waistband or a holster, and he walks away with the weapon before officers start shooting,” Doocy said. “It appears that Alex Pretti was disarmed. If he was disarmed, is it the protocol to use deadly force?”
“And that’s all part of this investigation,” Noem answered.
“Every video will be analyzed,” she continued. “Everything will be looked at. And that’s part of the answer is that I can’t speak to every single thing that those officers thought. But this happened in seconds. They clearly feared for their lives and took action to defend themselves and the people around them.”
Noem has been among the U.S. officials appearing to apply heavy spin on the circumstances of both fatal shootings.
Some Trump administration officials have said the killings were justified and called both Pretti and previous Minneapolis victim Renee Good terrorists, but footage and witness accounts pour cold water on those assertions.